1238 Su
(One note: there are some deadlines that happen in this story. Seeing as we are currently in the middle of Patrick’s game the deadlines can of course be moved to another time if it’s going to interfere with Patrick’s story.) Well, I finally did it. I got Simeon rip, roaring, mad. Wait let me back track! Alessandro told Orrlanduccus, Abramo, and Halfden to go to Naples and find out why a shipment of supplies for the covenant was over a week late getting back to us. While the group traveled to Naples they noticed that the surrounding flora was way too lush/forest-like for southern Italy. The Appian Way and the other main Roman roads were clear of plants/trees, but any side roads/pathways were overgrown or had the look of being freshly cut down to keep the pathways clear. As they passed through Terracina, they got to the southern gate of the town and 5 centaurs and 1 satyr emerged from the forest next to the road. The Satyr pulled out a scroll and announced to Terracina. "Behold the words of your fair Queen Belgen!! These past years she has been gracious to let you not pay taxes as a celebration to her recent coronation. However, it is time for you, her loyal subjects, to begin to pay your taxes! You must pay her the first fish caught on a summer's day, the last drop of dew during Fall before it turns to frost, and the first word of a baby! All these things must be collected and placed in the town square before the sun sets when the night is the longest. Queen Belgen is fair and just! She will bestow her favor upon to who are loyal to her. But! Woe betide those who would seek her displeasure through acts of dissention and treason." After this proclamation the Satyr and the centaurs handed the scroll to one of the guards at the gate and walked back into the forest. The group decided that their job was to find the supply wagon not confront the Fey. So they continued to Naples. When they neared the walls of Naples they saw that a ring of land about 30 paces away from the town wall was made up of ripped up and burned trees. The burning and cutting was being done by the common people and the soldiers. As they got to the gates of the town they saw a long line of people waiting to enter. The group believed that because they were wearing the livery of Count Simeon (Orrlanduccus had it embossed on his shield) they could bypass the line and ride right up to the gate. When they tried to do this a horn sounded and 10 men with bows on top of the wall suddenly rushed toward the top of the gate and a voice called out "Return to the line! Return to the line! You will be fired upon if you do not! This is your only warning!!" The group quickly did as the voice said and waited in line to get to the gate. When they got to the gate they saw the gate was closed and two guards and a mousy man with a portable writing desk hanging around his neck were checking the people before they were allowed in. "What is your name? Where are you from? Why have you come to Naples? Please remove your hats and pull your sleeves up past your elbow." the mousy man ordered when the group got up to the gate. The group answered the questions and did as they asked. The guards checked their eyes, ears, the spaces between their fingers, and the skin along their arms. After checking them over, the guards let the group into the city and told them if they were looking for their supplies they should go to the street of the guild halls. As the group was moving through Naples, they saw that there were more guards patrolling the streets and people were going about their daily business, but they seemed a little more tense than normal. The group also noticed that as they walked past some of the taverns they heard some music playing, but there wasn’t any roaring laughter or singing. They saw a street urchin run past an old woman and bump into her. She checked her pockets and then glared at the back of the urchin made a sign with her fingers and spit between those fingers. A passing guard saw her do that and quickly moved towards her and started chewing her out. The group couldn’t hear what was being said but they saw the woman looking contrite and the guard moved along. When they got close enough to the woman, they asked if she was alright. She said “Oh! Yes, I’m alright. Just old habits from an old fool. I shouldn’t have done that! Chancellor Lysandros has been very good to Naples. The Archbishop has told us that if it wasn’t for him, Belgen would be ruling this city and driving us all into the devil’s clutches. May she burn forever in the pits of Hell!” With that exclamation she looked like she was about to spit again, but stopped and crossed herself. She then said goodbye to the group and walked away. As the group got closer to the street of the Guild halls and they heard a lot of shouting. Rounding a corner they saw that a large group of people were gathered around a raised platform. On the Platform the group saw the Guild masters sitting near the back of the platform, and Lysandros standing near the front of the platform waving his hands to try and quiet the crowd. Rolling on awareness the group saw that the people shouting were not beggars, the common people, or the nobility, but the town artisans. They were now close enough to be able to hear that most of the shouting was about a lack of supplies to do their daily work. Lysandros was finally able to quiet down the crowd and he yelled out that he understood that it was difficult to get supplies to everyone but he was speaking with the Guild masters on ways to make sure no one was overlooked and for everyone to please go back to work. The crowd slowly did as he asked grumbling as they moved along. As Lysandros was stepping down from the platform he noticed our group. He asked if Count Simeon was in town. The group said no and that they were looking for a wagon of supplies that should have been back at Punta Rossa about a week ago. Lysandros waved over a clerk with a writing desk around his neck and asked the clerk if that wagon had come to Naples. The clerk confirmed that the wagon had arrived in Naples, but hadn’t left because it didn’t have all the supplies. Lysandros told the group that because of Queen Belgen and her fast growing forests blocking many of the supplies routes trade had slowed down horribly in Naples. He asked the group to walk with him. As they walked through town he asked the group if they would do a favor for him. He added seeing as they worked for Wizards they would be better equipped to deal with the strangeness of this favor. The group agreed to hear him out. At this point the group rolled awareness and noticed that they weren’t walking back towards the Duke’s castle, but towards Naples newly built University. Lysandros told the group he was on his way to the University to see if the learned men at the University had finished researching a way to beat back Belgen’s forests. Lysandros said they were trying to recreating Greek Fire. By this time the group had walked into a lecture hall and saw three older men talking around a table covered in papers in the center of the room. Lysandros asked the three men how close were they to unlocking the secrets of Greek Fire. The Learned men looked pointedly at our group, but Lysandros said I trust these men, so you can trust them as well. The Learned Men said that they were very close but one thing in the translation was still eluding them. They said the translation from Greek mentioned Dragon’s Breath, but Dragon’s Breath had to be a euphemism for something, because it didn’t make sense in the rest of the passage. Lysandros asked to look at the translation and they pointed out the passage. He studied it for a few minutes and then asked for the original copy the translation came from. One of the Learned Men came back with a flat wooden box and removed the lid. Inside was a very old looking piece of parchment. Lysandros did not pick up the parchment but began reading it. A few minutes he closed the lid on the box and handed the original back to the Learned Men. He then said the new translation was badly done and held it over a candle until it was burned away. He told them the phrase wasn’t Dragon’s Breath but Gaia’s Blood, the super hot liquid that can be found at the top of mountains or down in the darkest of caves. Lysandros and the Learned men started talking quickly in Latin and the group couldn’t keep up with them. A few minutes the learned men collected their papers and left the lecture hall. Lysandros turned back to our group and told them that the Learned Men were going to prepare a way for the group to carry Gaia’s blood and if they would follow him. They followed Lysandros deeper into the University and down a set of stairs into the basement of one of the buildings. They then went down an even deeper set of stairs into a large circular room with a set of tables in the center of the room. The tables were covered with all sorts of glass devices, some empty ,some bubbling with various liquids. The Learned Men told the group to lift a large three handled iron pot and put it in the center of the room near the glass laden tables. The Learned Men then began fiddling with the various glass devices and swung out a long glass apparatus over the iron pot. They continued to work and soon a green liquid began to drip out of the long glass arm and pour into the iron pot. The sides of the pot began to be covered in frost. The Learned Men “There! It is ready to hold Gaia’s Blood. This pot must be held by the handles and you must not touch the sides. Also take these! They will help keep you from burning up.” They handed the group three wooden icons shaped like flames attached to strings. After this Lysandros bid them goodbye as he had work to do. When Lysandros had left the Learned Men told the group The Learned Men “One last thing before you go there are special instructions on how to carry the iron pot.” As they were giving the final instructions, each person of our group heard a twisting whispering voice. A voice that was more felt than heard “You shall not speak to anyone about what you have seen or done at the University!” After that, the group took the Iron pot and decided that they would go back to Punta Rossa to collect the lava from the Mouth of Orcus. They returned to Punta Rossa and Alessandro demanded to know why they had returned without the supplies. Because of they couldn’t speak of what happened at the University they remained mute. However, Orrlanduccus was able to write “Compelled” on a piece of parchment. So Alessandro called upon Simeon to use pose the silent question to find out what was wrong with them. Alessandro looked over the iron pot and the wooden amulets, but could not see any Hermetic runes or markings on them. Through a series of questions the Wizards were able to piece together what had happened. During a Wizard’s meeting they decided that the Grogs would collect the lava and return it to the Learned Men, but we would be keeping a closer eye on these magical “Learned Men”. The group was able to collect the Lava and returned it to Naples. The guards at the gate were on the watch for our group and quickly passed them through. When they got to the University they found Lysandros waiting for them with the learned men. The learned men quickly took the iron pot and went down below. Lysandros asked the group if they had any trouble collecting Gaia’s Blood and they said no. He then said” I hope you understand that we must not talk about what has happened at the University. Belgen could have spies anywhere. You won’t say anything about what’s under the University right?” Because this involved talking about what happened at the university the group couldn’t say anything. Lysandros “Why are you remaining silent? Did something happen with the Learned men down there? (no response). Ok, can you nod you heads? (the group found they could). Did the Learned Men do something to you? ( they nodded). Is that why you can’t talk? (they nodded). Upon learning this the group who rolled a high enough awareness roll, briefly saw something they had never seen before in regards to Lysandros. He was livid for just a second, but quickly regained control of his emotions. (The group has seen Lysandros display many emotions before, but never anger that pure and terrifying) Lysandros “I told them you were to be trusted, and this is how far the trust my word!? I will make sure they understand the gravity of what they’ve done. They are in Naples because I allow them to remain here. I want you to know that I had nothing to do with that. This is a dangerous time and we cannot afford to become fractious and untrusting of our allies. Please come with me to the castle, if you can tell me exactly what the supplies you were supposed to get I will make sure you get them right now, even if that means pulling them from the Duke’s personal stores.” After a few hours, Lysandros’ men had procured all the supplies the Wizards wanted. Just before the group was to leave, Lysandros handed the group a leather bound folder filled with parchment. Lysandros” Perhaps the wizards can make heads or tails of these documents. I can’t figure them out and considering how the Learned Men treated my trusted allies, I don’t think I will be giving it to them.” As the group made it to Terricina they overheard the people of the town talking about the confusing taxes to Belgen. “Do we pay for Belgen’s taxes or the Duke’s taxes, or do we have to pay for both? When they made it back to Punta Rossa they reported in about what had happened and handed the Leather folder over to the Wizards. Alessandro looked over the parchment and said that he wasn’t sure what it was, but there were Hermetic words and symbols interspaced throughout the papers. “This one has some symbols for Perdo Vim. This one says Rego Auram. This one has something about Perdo Animal. It’s Hermetic but I can’t make it out. I suspect that one of us will need to study it.” During this time, Lippo and Pippo ran up holding a scroll. “Master Simeon! A goat-man and 5 horsemen walked into the town center and said Punta Rossa needed to pay Belgen’s taxes. They said we were to collect the oldest barnacle on the newest fishing ship, the third trod upon stone in the town plaza, and the last breath from a dying man. We are to collect these things and present them to the town square when the sun rises on the shortest night of the year!” Simeon was not happy!